Street Tough

 


Have been meaning to post a few thoughts about a book I finished reading a week or so back, Quitter, by Harvey Pekar. After I got over my initial confusion as to why he was drawing himself to look like Norm MacDonald, I'll admit yes, I kinda loved the book.It was less frantic than some of his older work. Isn't that a great cover?

Pekar is probably best known for American Splendor or the movie of the same name that picks up in his early adult years. Quitter (published in 2005) is the first part of Pekar's life, that takes you from his childhood as a street tough (LOVE that word) in a depressed part of Cleveland, skipping over the American Splendor era to present day. Definitely a worthwhile read if you are a fan of the neurotic Mr. Pekar. He honestly narrates his many varied failures, much like a neurotic Rod Serling. The one thing that surprises me about the man is how, despite his seemingly sadsack attitude towards life, he's incredibly resilient and no matter how many times he kept getting fired, he'd always look for and quickly find another job. He's fairly lucky, though he'd probably be the last to recognize it.

The other surprising thing to me was that even though he's almost a household name, he's not stupendously wealthy. He don't have no gift wrap room in his Manor if yknowwhuI'mthayin'. So much so that he constantly worries about where his next check will come from, even with a federal pension. Then again, it might just be Harvey being Harvey.

(There's nothing in the book that has anything to do with Tippy the Turtle, that particular picture of Pekar just reminded me of him.)